The Power of a Pretense
by Quick-n-Popular
Summary: AU. Danzo's plan was playing out as Uzumaki Naruto was playing life as the container of the Kyuubi. Little did he know of the actual truth. However, with all best laid out plans, there's always something, or someone, that could change it all. Naruhina.
1. Danzo's Plan

**"The Power of a Pretense"**

By Quick-n-Popular

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Wish I did, but ain't going to happen in my lifetime.

A/N: As this being an "Alternate Universe" story, a lot of information from the source material has been either removed or altered so that this story could work. Thus, you may have to suspend some disbelief. I hope ya like it!

Chapter One: Danzo's Plan

Fire lit the sky, the air was plagued by ash and smoke as buildings were set ablaze. The beautiful town of Konoha was in utter chaos and ruin. Many of its inhabitants were scurrying about, trying desperately recover those who have fallen to the Kyuubi moments before its departure.

One man, however, was not running nor was he frantic like so many others at this time.

Danzo, the well known "warhawk' of Konoha, known for his quiet demeanor and war-hardened mind; was walking to the area in which the Kyuubi was last seen engaging the Yondaime Hokage.

He had observed the Hokage and the Kyuubi's entanglement from a distance, wanting to know first hand as to the outcome of what was to happen. Like so many who had already fallen, he too had some doubts as to what the outcome of the battle against the demon fox was going to be. Then, in the last moments, he saw what he had heard of from some certain sources as to what the Yondaime had planned when he was going to combat the Kyuubi. The specialized sealing of the beast into a host in a means to contain it as there was no way to defeat it outright.

From where Danzo had hid himself for observation, it looked as though the Yondaime's plan worked as the fox had changed from a being of form into a swirling vapor of red mist that went directly at him and into the host into which it was to be housed. He then heard the Hokage screaming outloud and then quickly falling to the ground and laid still. Danzo had heard from his sources that this particular type of sealing came with the cost of the caster's life and the outcome seemed to prove that true.

Danzo shifted on his cane as he limped his way to the fallen Hokage to observe, first hand, that the man had done his job and see the host for himself.

It had been a mystery to his sources as to whom the man had chosen for such a task, but whomever it was, Danzo had plans for it. Such a being to contain such an extraordinary power would be too valuable to be left to the devices of the soft Sarutobi as he was sure he would safe guard it. Danzo knew if he could obtain the host first and have his ROOT members hide it, he could then make a declaration of the host being dead and keep it for himself to train and use right. His mind began to set in motion the right story to feed to Sarutobi, who he was sure was on his way here.

When Danzo finally came upon The Yondaime's form, he saw a wriggling mass hidden in the confines of his cloak. Getting onto one knee, Danzo used his only available hand and moved aside the flap of the cloak to reveal the host within it.

A crying child with a tuft of blond hair on its head cried out loudly as it moved its tiny fists in process.

Danzo's only eye lingered on the prized tiny thing and then went to the stomach where the seal containing the Kyuubi behind it was. He narrowed his eye as he couldn't find that said seal. Frowning, he picked up the child and looked all over it. He couldn't find ANYTHING. Danzo then put some chakra into the child but nothing surfaced. He scowled some more, his brow furrowing.

'It isn't here.' He summarized. His eye then went back down to the Hokage and a thought then struck him. 'Could it be that it back fired somehow? Did the Yondaime's seal went back to its caster as opposed to working as it had intended?' It was the only possible reason he could come up with. The seal had sent the Kyuubi back to the Yondaime and when the Hokage sacrificed his life to the shinigami, the Kyuubi went right along with him. Danzo grunted out of disappointment, he would never get the chance to have such a powerful weapon at his disposal ever again.

His eye once again fell upon the child in his hand. The child looked up at his with curious eyes as it sucked on its thumb, its crying and displeasurment having stopped.

Looking upon said child, Danzo soon came aware as to who the parents were. The tuft of blond hair, the deep cerulean eyes. there could be no mistake. A smile slowly appeared on the weathered face of the warhawk. In his hands, he was holding the son of the Yondaime, one of the most powerful shinobi's ever to grace Konoha and had died saving it.

The wheels in his head began turning once more, all was not for not, anymore. He could still use this child. Because of its father, he would still have a powerful shinobi.

Danzo's thinking was halted as he could hear approaching footsteps along with the voice of the Sandaime issuing orders as he was making his way over to the area.

Danzo knew it was too late to summon one of his close ROOT members nearby to take the child. He quickly began thinking of a way...

Sarutobi Hiruzen was both panicked and grief-stricken. He had watched from the tower the events that had occurred. The Yondaime had calmly walked out to confront the Kyuubi, his child in his hands, and his face a look of a tortured, yet determined; spirit.

After the Kyuubi's departure, Sarutobi began to set out to rescue the son of the Yondaime and set out orders to those around him to help the fallen. Upon getting closer, he was surprised to see that he wasn't the first one to reach the child as, in front of him, Danzo was cradling the child in his arm ad was waiting for his arrival.

Arriving without much breath, Sarutobi looked first at the child and then at Danzo. He asked one question.

"Did he succeed?"

Danzo nodded and presented him with the infant, on its belly a spiraling symbol lay visible.

Sarutobi sighed as he accepted the child. He knew the child was in for a rough ordeal, but he knew that once he relayed the message to the village that all would be all right, possibly, from here on in.

Danzo watched as the Sandiame turned and walked out of sight with the child in his hands and surrounded by the ANBU. A smile appeared on the man's face as he knew the Hokage had obviously had accepted what presented to him. Now, it was only be a matter of time before his plans would come into fruition...

Twelve years and several months later....

Uzumaki Naruto stood firm in front of the traitorous man he had once called sensei. Having just stolen a scroll in an effort to rectify a failed Genin exam, he had just witnessed three things that shook his core. One being the betrayal of his supposed sensei, the others was the revelation of him being the container of the demon fox that was the source of all the pain and suffering he had endured over a large course of his young life. Lastly, was being saved by his sensei, Iruka. The man, at first, confronted him about the stolen scroll and then revealed to Naruto his unwitting participation into helping Mizuki into stealing for him. Now, Iruka was injured greatly due to Mizuki. Having thwarted a final deathblow by Mizuki, Naruto was now ready to use the jutsu that he had learned from the scroll against the man.

"Touch my sensei again, you bastard, and I'll kill you." He said, murderously.

"Ha! The demon thinks he's tough. Well, come at me brat! If you're so sure of yourself." Mizuki raised his windmill-shuriken up high as he saw Naruto get into position and made hand signs and then shouted.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Next to Naruto stood two clones. He blinked.

'I...I thought I had made more!...Oh, well.' He scowled at Mizuki. 'The bastard is still going down!'

Naruto then, along with his two shadow clones, charged at Mizuki.

Mizuki smirked at the blond as he let his shuriken soar through the air at him and his clones.

Naruto and his clones dived away from the spinning blade and quickly made their way to Mizuki in the treetops.

Mizuki smirked as he whipped out a kunai and delivered several kicks that dispelled Naruto's clones and then he launched himself at the original, kunai held high.

"Once I get rid of you, this village may actually give me a medal for my service. Hell, they might let me KEEP the scroll as a reward!"

Naruto brought forth his own kunai as he scowled. "Keep thinking what you want, traitor. I'll make you pay for hurting Iruka-sensei!"

"Naruto don't!"

Naruto gave a quick glance to the side to see Iruka, painfully, crawl his way over in a vain-effort to stop his blond-haired student.

Naruto turned back to Mizuki as he thrusted his kunai at the man's neck. He wasn't fast enough as he felt a horrible pain in his abdomen. Looking down, he could see Mizuki's kunai protruding from his gut. Naruto felt cold and the world was spinning slightly in front of him.

"Now die, demon!" Mizuki delivered a kick to Naruto's head that had him sailing over the trees ahead.

Before darkness ensnared him, Naruto thought he could hear several figures shouting and engaging the area where Mizuki and Iruka were...

----------------

Sarutobi sat by the bed as he gazed sadly at the blond haired boy who was attached to an IV stand, his head completely bandaged, and his abdomen stiched up; in the hospital early this morning.

Having watched the events unfold from his crystal ball the night before, he kicked himself for not acting quick enough to send the Jonins squabbling outside to the area to help Naruto and Iruka against Mizuki. They had found Naruto fifty feet away, his body mangled from his fall and his head bleeding upon his landing against an unearthed boulder. He was now someplace where he couldn't be reached as his mind was closed off from the world. Sarutobi, at first, thought of using Yamanka Inoichi to help bring the boy back, but Inoichi was against the idea as he said, being how young Naruto was; that he could possibly do damage by entering the young boy's mind.

Sarutobi sighed. After all these years, he still felt helpless in helping the poor boy. He thought by making his law that Naruto might find a better life with his peers, but seeing as how he was constantly pushed away by adults who spread their fears and hatred toward their unknowing children, it may never come to be. Now, all he could do is be there for Naruto when he woke up and hoped he could find the right words to reassure the boy that there still was hope for him.

Watching the Sandaime sit with the boy, Danzo turned away and his thoughts were happy ones.

'Soon it will all come together and the boy will be mine.'

To be continued.......

A/N: I know this is rushed but I wanted to present the idea and will be more thorough and better paced later on in the following chapters. This is an experiment and based on reactions I'll decide on whether or not to continue this. I'm working with three other stories, so you'll have to be patient.

A/N II: Please read and review as it'll inspire me to invest in this more and more.

Q-n-P


	2. A Stranger's Gift

A/N: Just so it's clear, as there seems to be some confusion over it, the Kyuubi was 'killed' because the seal placed upon Naruto backfired and ended up hitting the Yondaime and thus ended up dying right along with him when the shinigami took his life in payment. I know it sounds convoluted but its the way I had it set up. As to your other queries, well, they'll be addressed in this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Two: A Stranger's Gift**

Naruto had awakened in five days. After a seemingly long apology by the Third Hokage, he was now left alone to recover and regain his thoughts.

He felt shaken and weak. Neither of which he wanted as it led to even more troubled thoughts. What's more, he felt betrayed by those around him. For twelve long years people have been keeping the fact that he was harboring a demon inside of him and it was because of the same secret that he had to endure all those torments of name-callings, murderous looks, and 'accidents'; by people in the village.

Although feeling a sense of betrayal, Naruto didn't hate those that meant so much to him for keeping this from him. He knew that their intentions were good, but still...

The slight tapping of wood against the linoleum flooring in the hallway outside of his room, vastly approaching, made Naruto snap out of his thoughts as he gazed to the opened doorway to see a tall man wrapped heavily in bandages around his face, with only leaving his mouth and none eye visible; bring himself into Naruto's room supported by a wooden cane.

Quickly observing the man, Naruto could see that his lone eye barely opened as he looked at him before he set his sight on a chair in the room and made his way quietly to it. Just as Naruto was going to ask who he was, the man spoke.

"I see you're recovering nicely." The tone was flat and hard.

Naruto nodded. "Who are you?"

The man didn't answer. Instead his eye went to the bedside table where he saw a hitae-ate laying beside an already consumed bowl of ramen from Ichiraku's.

"I see you made Genin. Even though you failed the exam."

Naruto nodded and began to scowl. He was irked that this man wasn't answering his question as to who he was.

"Why is it, do you think, that you were unable to pass the exam like the others in your class?" The man asked, turning his one eye to Naruto.

Naruto sighed and grumbled. "Because...Iruka-sensei and the Old Man say I have problems with chakra control."

The man didn't respond, just merely nodding. He let time pass slowly as he quietly observed the boy. Then, he spoke once more.

"Do you hate them?"

Naruto looked up, surprised and confused. "Hate who?"

"The Hokage, your teachers, all of those that have kept secret the reason as to why you were hated and persecuted by the people in this village?"

Naruto looked down at the sheets of his bed, closing his eyes as he took in a breath. "No, not really. I mean, why should I? They were just trying to protect me."

The man nodded his head. "How do you feel about it all?"

Naruto sighed. "I hate it. I wish I didn't have it in me. I wish to be seen as a regular person rather than a demon in human form."

"That may be easier said than done." The man said, "People's opinions aren't easily changed."

The boy nodded. "I know, that's why, when I'm Hokage, they'll HAVE TO change their minds. After all, a leader of a village is the most respected one, am I right?"

The man nodded and began to get up.

"You still haven't told me who you are." Naruto said.

The man, once again, nodded. "Just a friend. You may call me Danzo. I've been watching you for a while now, young Uzumaki. I look forward to your continuing progress."

The young blond blinked in confusion. "You've been watching me? Why?"

Danzo said nothing and turned and made his way slowly to the doorway, but before exiting, he turned his head. "If there's ever a time where you feel the need for better instruction than what you're given, be sure to contact me as I can help you in more ways than you can possibly imagine." After that, Danzo then ambled forward and left.

Naruto stared at the doorway of where Danzo had once stood, he blinked some more. His thoughts went through the entire brief encounter with the strange individual, pondering as to what its purpose was.

Much to Naruto's chagrin, it turned out that there were many in the hospital staff that resented his presence and, when the Hokage wasn't around, decided to make his stay miserable as much as possible.

They did so by 'accidentally' ignoring the meal schedule for his room, changing his sheets with dirtier ones, and storing open containers of stool and urine samples in his room. All of this was vehemently denied or finagled upon explanation to the Hokage during his visits.

Naruto was irritated to no end. But he knew he wouldn't be here much longer so he treated this as a test of endurance and wits, so to keep his sanity and anger in check.

However, the hospital staff were getting more creative in their attempts to make him miserable during his stay. Their latest was issuing the psyche ward to 'lend' one of their most troubled patients to room with him. Their excuse was written as a means to occupy space as the psych ward was overcrowded, or so they claimed. Everytime someone was to visit Naruto, the staff managed to bring the extra occupant out of his room so to avoid their plan being spoiled.

Naruto's patience was put further to the test because of this. However, he still managed to keep a determined face as they now wheeled in the latest of the loonies to his room.

Most of those in the psych ward of the hospital were shinobis who had broken down mentally from missions and were in constant group therapy sessions. Most of them were relatively harmless as they were just prone to fits of panic and weariness of the world around them. However, the rest, the ones that were to remain locked up, these were the ones that had fallen farther off the edge. Some of them, so claimed by the staff, were ones that had murdered their teammates or their spouses and children. These were the ones that they put in with Naruto.

For the first few, Naruto merely looked away as these ones were disturbing to no end. They shrieked, yelled, and groaned twenty-four-seven. He could see the malevolent glee the staff got by his restlessness because of these tortured ex-shinobis.

Some were very chatty, these ones talked at length about their lives to the very last detail, much to Naruto's horror. Their descriptions of their enemies' demise and how much pleasure they got was sickening. the other two droned on and on about how sorry they were for killing and how they promised never to do it again. Naruto didn't have a clue as to who they were talking to when they were making these confessions, but it pained him to hear it and he tried to console them, yet they made no reply to him at all.

All of these and more, were brought into Naruto's room and so far it was an even greater test of survival than he had anticipated.

It was the second to last day of Naruto's stay at the hospital and he was all too eager for this day to pass by rather quickly. Just as these eager thoughts came to him, the door to his room opened and a hospital staff member with a smug look on her face, planted her fists to her hips.

"How're you doing, demon-brat?"

Naruto scowled and casted a murderous glance at her, but, in the end, he merely smirked. "Fine, and you?"

She reflected the smirk he gave. "I'm very well. Guess what? We have a new roommate for you! Especially picked out of the bin and one whose torutred little boys for a long time before getting caught."

Naruto didn't loose his smirk, even though, in the back of his head, he was sweating bullets by the discription she gave.

The woman signaled outside the door and they pulled in a woman sitting on a gurney, sitting upright, her hands clutching a pillow to her chest; her head bobbing back and forth like a bird.

"Meet Asuka. She's going to be with you till tomorrow morning. Behave you two." She then cackled evilly as she and the two attendees left the room, closing the door behind them.

Naruto waited until the door was closed before looking at his new 'roommate'. The woman was still rocking back and forth, her face covered in a black veil of her hair. She made little noises which sounded like the whistling of air.

"Uh, hi." Naruto said, waiving a hand slowly. He wasn't sure what category to put this woman in and thus didn't know if he should interact with her or not.

The woman, Asuka, turned a shaky head to Naruto and he could just get a glimpse of a violet-shaded eye.

"A-Are t-they gone?" She asked in barely a whisper. "H-Has K-Kumo killed us yet?'

Naruto blinked at this person. Kumo? He didn't know how to respond.

"Uh, yeah. Kumo's gone and no, we're not dead, we survived."

The woman then nodded, shakily, and went back into her rocking back and forth. "I didn't m-mean to do i-it."

"Do what?" Naruto asked.

The woman, then, erupted into a mixture of sobbing and wailing as she began beating the pillow she had clutched against the foot of her bed.

"ALL LIES!!! HE WAS NO BOY, HE WAS THE ENEMY!!! WE WERE TRICKED! I HAD NO CHOICE!!!" She shouted in a fit of sobs and then, once again, clutched the pillow against her chest and resumed her rocking back and forth and making air-like sounds.

Naruto, whose back and hands were clutching the wall behind him, slowly brought himself back forward as he looked at this strange woman with wide eyes.

What happened to this woman? Naruto then tried to think as he laid out everything he heard her say in front of him.

'She asked if Kumo has killed us. We were at war with Kumo in the Third major war. She must have been apart of that war. She said, 'he was no boy, he was the enemy'. I'm guessing she must have meant that she had killed a boy who was working for Kumo, right? Is that how she ended up here? Did she go mad after that happened or was it when they accused her of being a child-killer?' a lot of these went unanswered and Naruto was reluctant to ask his 'neighbor' if his suspicions were right.

Still, his curiosity was piqued, but he knew he had to tread carefully. "Uh, Asuka?"

The woman shuddered but nodded her head as she rocked her body continually.

Naruto gulped as he tried to think of the best way to ask this. "W-Was the b-boy, uh, the enemy, I mean; from Kumo?"

The woman stopped her rocking and Naruto was afraid that she was going to have another meltdown. However, she just nodded.

Naruto breathed in a sigh of relief. "Then, you're right, then. He WAS the enemy; you did your job."

However, the response he got from that was just the opposite. He watched her shake her head and then lift it up.

"He was just a child. Just a child." She spoke in a monotone voice. She then turned her head and looked at Naruto with her violent eye that revealed itself once more from her tangled hair. "Who looked just...like...you."

Naruto's eyes went wide and he was feeling apprehensive under the woman's gaze.

The woman then turned her head away and then she started to ramble again. "I'm sorry, so sorry. You were going to kill us...Kill us...No, I can't let that happen...No...You'll...You'll have to die...Die...So we can live..." Her head then jerked and looked back at Naruto who was sweating and was shaking like a leaf as her eyes went wide and her bottom lip trembled.

"That's only fair right?" She asked in a soft voice just barely above a whisper.

Naruto gulped and just nodded, not sure as to how to respond to such a question.

Asuka nodded back and then brought her thumb to her mouth and bit down on it, hard.

Naruto was about to say something, but then he noticed her take the bleeding thumb and reached to a spot in between her shoulder blades.

Naruto leaned forward and saw, to his surprise, a seal on the woman's back. Placing her quivering thumb against the seal, it illuminated in a purplish glow and then the end of a scroll appeared. She hoisted the scroll out of her (which looked both grotesque and bizarre) and, with a shaky hand gave it to Naruto.

"H-Here, dear boy." She said, not even looking at him. "I...I'm sorry I stole it from you. But, you're dead...So...Here."

Naruto's eyes widened at her but then looked to the scroll and he took it fromm her and as soon as he did she went back into her rocking session and was muttering about how Kumo used children.

Naruto looked back to the scroll in his hands and he carefully opened it and found the writing to be in a dazzling ruby-red color. It looked ancient and yet seemed so well preserved that time had no effect on it and never would. He read it's contents:

"You who hold this scroll, know this. What you hold is a Divine Contract of Summons. What the Suzaku desires most is purity of soul, an eager mind, and an endless wit. Those who possess all may be gifted with Suzaku. You must tread carefully, for if Suzaku finds you not worthy, you shall be burnt forever more. Write your name in blood and try your fate."

Naruto blinked several times as he tried to fully grasp as to what that whole thing meant. He slowly then realized that this was a summoning contract! A wide grin spread across his face but then quickly disappeared as he concentrated on the warning within the message.

'If this "Suzaku" doesn't find me worthy, then, he or she'll fry me.' He frowned but then sighed as he looked down the small list of names to the empty slot.

Taking a deep breath, and a little prayer to kami for luck, Naruto bit his index finger and crudely scribed his name in the empty space. Once finished he watched as the blood sank into the parchment and became a glittery ruby-red color. Naruto, then, closed his eyes in anticipation for the sudden judgment that would befall upon him. However, nothing occurred, much to his surprise. He sighed out of relief and then read the remainder of the summoning scroll for the instruction as to summon.

"Kuchyose no Jutsu!" He then slammed his palm against the bed. To be honest, he really didn't know what to expect, only that summons were, supposedly, awesome. However, when the little cloud of smoke vanished, he found a bird, roughly the size of his fist sleeping on his lap.

'This is Suzaku?' He wondered. Looking at the bird, he found rather pretty. It had wings that shimmered in ruby-red colors but seemed to reverberate through a color scheme from red to orange to yellow and then went back the same way. It had purple shadows over its eyes and had long strands of tail feathers that curled at the tips.

Curiosity overcoming him, Naruto, lightly, poked the bird at the side of the head, only to have the bird bite down on his finger and nearly going through to the bone.

"Ow! Dammit!" He cried out.

Asuka, who continually rocked, gave a side glance at Naruto before returning to her activity.

Naruto seized his finger back and clasped the bleeding finger in the palm of his hand as he looked narrowly at the miniature bird on his lap.

"That hurt!" He yelled at the bird.

The bird hoped onto its feet and cocked its head observing him at all angles. "You're pretty weak if that was all it took to hurt you." It said in chirps.

Naruto scowled. "Who are you? Are you Suzaku?"

The bird shook its head. "No, I'm Chi, Suzaku's great-grand daughter. I'm sure you're aware of how much chakra you'll need to summon Suzaku-sama, am I right?" She eyed him, curiously.

Naruto paled as the sudden realization came to him. He then somberly nodded at the diminutive bird.

The bird nodded, appreciatively. "Good, at least I know you're not completely hopeless."

Naruto scolwed but let it drop. The bird hopped up and then fluttered over to his shoulder where she perched herself. "So, tell me all about yourself."

Naruto smiled, faintly, and began telling Chi all there was to know about him and his life thus far. In return, Chi told Naruto about her family, the great Suzaku, and of their special place in the sky. she then told him about all he could expect from having signed Suzaku's contract. About the jutsus he would be learning, the techniques, and most importantly, at least to her; what he would have to give for their services.

"What do I have to give everytime I summon you or the others?" Naruto asked and slightly gulped, dreading the answer.

Chi cocked her head from side to side. "Riddles." She answered.

Naruto stared at the bird, his mind in a torrent of thoughts. "Riddles?" He repeated.

The bird bobbed its head in a means to convey a nod. "Riddles. Suzaku and all of her hatchlings adore riddles. It takes an inquisitive mind to make up the best, and this will also be our task to you to become more intelligent and creative."

Naruto sighed. Of course there was a catch. He then smiled though as he thought of the benefit of all of this. He had one thing no one else in his generation had.

Maybe things would get better...

To be continued...

A/N: "Suzaku" is one of the four heavenly guardians in Japanese lore. Representing, if I'm not mistaken, the south. I hope It was made clear that the reason Naruto didn't pass the exam was because of his chakra control and thus couldn't produce a proper bunshin. This is most likely due to the sabotage of Mizuki and the other instructors, except Iruka; and thus screwed him over from being able to develop proper chakra control. I also want to make sure its clear that Naruto, haphazardly, did the summons without realizing that if he had he could of brought Suzaku and would have destroyed the hospital. He didn't know and was lucky, I guess you might say.

A/N II: Please read and review.

Q-n-P


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